Meet Erin Creeks | Copywriter & Food Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Erin Creeks and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erin, how do you think about risk?
I am almost dangerously comfortable with risk. It is an inherent part of entrepreneurship and life in general. I think entrepreneurship requires the awareness of taking risks but all our lives we are risking something because nothing is ever certain. Some risks are scarier than others and you of course try to calculate opportunities and threats, but at the end of the day risks are a necessary part of life and business.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a natural born creative and at different times in life have focused on dance, music, and event design, but now my creativity is channeled into writing and food photography. I am a copywriter but have been writing poems since the age of 8. I love the power of words and how they can evoke understanding and connection on an emotional or even spiritual level. There is such power in words and to be able to use them well is a gift. Food photography offers the ability to create art on a plate and capture what is a temporary canvas covered in culinary creativity, but lasting for an eternity. The challenges any artist faces is that art is subjective. Not everyone gets it or agrees with it’s worth or intended purpose. Other challenges with copywriting are writers block, meeting tight deadlines that constrict artistic ability, and often times working with clients that don’t understand that to write well is to think clearly – if your brand isn’t clear then I can’t write about it. Often this leads to me doing a crash course in brand consulting for the client. It’s going above and beyond but in the end, I can’t write when I’m not clear, so it’s necessary. Challenges to food photography are recipes that don’t work out, bad lighting, food costs, and the long hours of prep all for one photo. Its a challenge but I have to remind myself that anything worth doing is worth doing well, and you never know who will eventually see that photo. I’ve gotten so many opportunities to food style and create videos off my Instagram feed, so I take pride in every dish and every photo that I shoot.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would mostly take them to places to eat which would include – Pondicheri, Pho Saigon, Tiger Den, Dish Society, and Kata Robata. For shopping we would tour CityCentre and Highland Village. For fun and activities we would go to Discovery Green and catch a musical at the Hobby Center. I don’t do night life but if we’re going to be out late I prefer coffeeshops that are open til the early morning like Agora, which also offers wine. They would also have to come to Montrose for people watching and thrifting.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Sahar Paz the CEO of Own Your Voice. She has been a mentor, friend, and collaborator of mine for years and is a true supporter of all women – especially women of color. She also promotes women in places where men are traditionally dominant.

Website: https://www.basilandbeauty.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/basilandbeauty/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-creeks-a44a4850/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/basilandbeauty

Image Credits
Von Vis Photography